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Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

course of the great Mughal wars during the first half of the seventeenth century the
chief of Dkar-rtse, the Khri-Sultān, was taken prisoner and transported to Leh. We
do not know whether he again obtained his liberty and his kingdom. During Bde-
skyon-rnam-rgyal's reign Bkra-śis-rnam-rgyal ruled over Pu-rig ; and at the beginning
of the Dogra wars (1834 A.D.) we find a Ladakhi garrison stationed at Dkar-rtse.

2. The Ancient Kings of Kha-la-rtse

Kha-la-rtse must have been in ancient times an important place ; for here we find
the most ancient rock-inscriptions of Ladakh. The inscription in Maurya Brāhmī
characters discovered here contains nothing but the name Bharadaya (Bharadvāja)
in the genitive case, as stated by Dr. J. Ph. Vogel. This may be the name of some
Hindu or Buddhist priest. But one of the ancient Kharosthī inscriptions of Kha-la-
rtse begins with the title Mahārāja, as pointed out by Professor Rapson. Unfortu-
nately it has not yet been possible to make out the proper name of this king. Then
there is a Gupta inscription at Kha-la-rtse, which has not yet been read with absolute
certainty. Dr. Vogel proposed the reading Śrī-Sacamatisya, the genitive case of
Śrī-Sacamati (Satyamati), whilst Mr. F. W. Thomas suggested the reading Śrīma[c]-
carpatisya. [Carpati is known as the name of a Buddhist divinity, and a legendary
Yogin of this name is mentioned in the Chambā Vaṃśāvalī. See Dr. Vogel's
Antiquities of Chamba State, pp. 92–3.—F. W. T.] With the former reading the
inscription would seem to contain the name of one of the old [perhaps Dard] chiefs
of Kha-la-rtse, who will have reigned there c. 400 A.D. In the close vicinity of this
inscription are found the so-called mgo-chen-mchod-rten, the ancient stūpas of those
chiefs, as I suppose. I have not yet been permitted to open any of these monuments.
The names of the last kings of Kha-la-rtse are found on some of the boulders near
Kha-la-rtse bridge. There the names Khri-lhod, Rgya-śin (Brgya-sbyin, Indra), and
Si-ri-ma (Srīmān) occur. The orthography of these inscriptions points to the time
between 1000 and 1300 A.D. These kings probably reigned during the twelfth century,
when Lha-chen Nag-lug of Leh built the Brag-nag castle of Kha-la-rtse. Probably
the firm establishment of the Ladakhi rule put an end to their power.

3. The Chiefs of Nub-ra

Nub-ra is a province of Ladakh, situated in the Sha-yok valley, to the east of
Chor-lhbad. In classical Tibetan it is called Ldum-ra, 'fruit garden.' Nub-ra
means 'western realm'. To judge by the two inscriptions which have come to my
knowledge, it looks as if in former days Nub-ra had been ruled by its own princes.
Inscription No. 40 of my collection, which comes from Hun-dar in Nub-ra, speaks of a
king Tshe-dban-brtan-pa, who resided at a castle called Bde-chen-rtse-mo. His wife
was called [R]nam-rgyal-skyid, and his son Mgon-po-[r]nam-rgyal. Inscription
No. 41 speaks of a king Bhag-ram-mir, who resided at the same castle. This king is in
all probability identical with Bahram-Chu (Jo), mentioned in the Ta'rīkh-i-Rashidī
as having guided the Turkoman army to Si-dkar (1532 A.D.). There he is called a chief
of Baltistan. This is not so extraordinary. As his country bordered on Baltistan, he